Why are conspiracy theories so common

Why are “conspiracy theories” so common?

Why do conspiracy theories have so many believers?

Throughout human history there has always been the idea that some sinister group are manipulating the whole population, for their own ends. In some ways history shows that human religious leaders did conspire to control the general population, this was in the periods of time when literacy was rare and so those who controlled what was written, what was recorded and what was read out to the majority of the people; did control and manipulate the rest of us.

As the ability to read spread so did misinformation. With no control over what was printed or distributed, the most lurid tales were spread of misbehaviour in “high places.” The motivation was always, and still is always, political. If you can not persuade others to your point of view, then try to destroy the good name of your opponents. One of the oldest tricks in the book.

There is a very old saying that just because you are paranoid, it does not mean they are not out to get you. Same applies to conspiracy theories of many different variations, just because it is a conspiracy theory does not mean it is not true, or at least partially true. Always remember that the best lies contain an element of truth.

In the past one of the most of the more popular conspiracy ideas was that a group of financiers, who owned munition factories and controlled supplies of fuel; were causing wars so they could profit from the sales to the opposing armies. It is true that in any conflict some one or some people, do profit from the sales of arms, ammunition and fuels. This is the truth that supports the theory. Hard evidence that any group deliberately cause a war, is harder to find. The theorists will argue that this is because the group are so powerful they control governments and all media and so they control what we “know.” This leads to the second basic supporting “facet” of any good conspiracy theory. The claim is that while there is no evidence, this does not mean it is false.

So we have a degree of truth and we can deny that a lack of evidence destroys the theory. With these two concepts in place it is possible to build a conspiracy theory about just about anything and a lot of people will believe it to be factually true. Why? This is much harder to understand but it is self evident that the more access people have to “media information” the more likely they are to believe things with no actual evidence of truth. One possible explanation is that the level of truth; in both public (authority, religious, and government) pronouncement and the mainstream media; have been reduced over the last 50 years. It is now common for people to mistrust political statements. Distrust of what is on TV and in the newspaper has grown. Now we have almost universal literacy, we have millions of people who, for various reasons; have adopted political or religious beliefs and when they read “news” that contradicts these beliefs that assume the news is false. This generates acceptance of any theory which presupposes that the “news” is false. One other possible explanation is that while we all have more knowledge about what is happening in our lives; we also, paradoxically, have less actual power to control every aspect of our own lives. This is probably more due to the sheer numbers of the population but the desire to have more control leads to acceptance of any theory which claims that some sinister group are conspiring to deny us that control.

We are all now able to access various sources of information, while it is again self evident that many will only seek information to support an existing belief; for many the fact is that they can find contradictory information. Political and religious extremes use those who never seek alternative concepts; as their main support. (which is why the left in politics seek to no platform, cancel etc. any opposing views) Conspiracy theorists use the doubt, that triggers the seeking of alternative concepts, to spread the theory.

Why does any one start up a conspiracy theory? Very hard to know, it must be supposed there are a variety of motivations. Some may just be a sort of natural growth, just as a rumour will spread and change so will some misconception be expanded and grow into a full blown conspiracy theory. Some may be simple deliberate mischief making. Some may be commercial. If you wish to sell electric cars start a conspiracy theory which claims sinister forces are trying to prevent the saving of the planet by prolonging the use of combustion engines. This has a level of truth and it can claim the lack of evidence does not make it untrue. Other sources may be a political motivation to create doubt about the quality of a government. If you can claim corruption by exploiting, what are probably simple errors or may be negotiating stages, then huge numbers of people, already opposed the the politics of the government, will believe you.

The pandemic of Coronavirus worldwide, has given rise to quiet a few conspiracy theories. From the cause being deliberate, to a claim that the illness does not exist at all and it is a trick to falsely control whole populations. It is stretching credibility way past breaking point; to think that every government in the world, that is from far left to far right and every stage between; would conspire together to falsely claim a contagion has spread through their populations. So the claim the disease does not exist is hard to justify. Actually as a conspiracy theory it does not meet the first rule, that some truth might exist in it. Was it started deliberately or accidentally due to some sort of biological weapon test that went wrong; this is hard to prove as false or true. History will probably pass judgement in about 100 years time.

Most tragedies probably start off due to a mundane cause, rather then a calculated conspiracy. An error, a mistake, a misunderstanding, a miscalculation, an act of personal greed or ignorance, rather than a deliberate conspiracy. This does not stop the spreading of conspiracy accusations. Accusations that spread without challenge and without real evidence. Propaganda, especially deliberate and well funded political propaganda is basically the use of the same public acceptance of a conspiracy theory but with a more consciously deliberate objective.

In some ways conspiracy theories may be politically constructive, in that they force authorities and politicians, into trying to study and understand what is involved in any particular theory; rather than just ignoring public disquiet.